Bobcat Fire, 2020 (File Photo – Angeles_NF)
If you haven’t heard of Watch Duty, it’s a service that provides real-time verified information about major fires, minor fires and many prescribed burns.
By Mala Arthur
Watch Duty covers incidents in 13 of the US states (including California), and currently has 2.3 million users.
On August 18, 2024, Fire Safe San Mateo County hosted a presentation by Nick Russell, the VP of Operations for non-profit Watch Duty. Watch Duty’s data includes real-time mapping of wildfire perimeters, air quality, wind speed and direction, evacuation zones and shelters, Red Flag condition boundaries, power outages (including the cause), road closures, and flights related to fire mapping or suppression.
Most of that data is available via the Watch Duty app, which is completely free of cost, free of ads, and is map-based. If you want all of the data, you may pay $25/year for a membership. The app is available for all major phone operating systems via their official stores.
Rather than depending on conflicting and often inaccurate information from social media and slow-to-post governmental agencies, you can use Watch Duty to inform your response to fires.
> More details may be viewed at this video below:
Mala Arthur has lived in the area for over 25 years and is involved in emergency response and preparation.
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